Happy 2018! The first Happiness post of the new year, yay! How’s your year starting out? My Day 1 was amazing. I decided to start making time for things that make me happy that I’ve been neglecting the past year, like driving around the city, finding roadside attractions, taking pictures, doing street art, making and sending mail… I drove to a part of the city I don’t usually think of as being super interesting or colorful, and challenged myself to find a bunch of stuff I’d never seen/noticed before, and it was awesome (even in the super cold). I felt invirograted and fulfilled. Day 2 was super emotional and left me beside myself with a bunch of emotions, none of which were motivation. So now it’s Day 3 and I got my hair done (a color darker than my natural brown, but kept some fun in the front– I went to my old stylist and told her to do what she wanted, and she had me pick a “fun” color and I picked the hot pink that when mixed with my previously red hair ended up being pretty fucshia/magenta, and I’m really happy with the results, but I’m still gonna be doing double takes in the mirror for a while), made myself dinner, and am taking the rest of the evening (or as long as I can stay awake) to tackle my overdue to do lists and get shit done!

It’s always great to feed off the energy of a new year, and relish the idea of a blank slate and new start, but don’t put an absurd amount of pressure on yourself to ride the inspirational resolution rollercoaster just because of what date it says on your phone. If you’re not ready to make a new goal or you’re still happy with the ones you’re in the middle of achieving, that’s okay! It’s also totally okay if your year didn’t start out like you’re in the middle of a progress montage and you ended up taking a sad nap like I did yesterday. I’m always advocating for feeling good and finding things that make you happy, but happiness isn’t the only part of the spectrum and it’s important to acknowledge and experience your other emotions, as long as you don’t let them run your life for too long.

That said, is finding more joy something you’re interested in doing this year? I’d love to hear more about that and how you’re planning on doing it. It’s great to make specific, measurable goals for our body, mind, soul, business, home, relationships, whatever, but sometimes it seems like if we just focus on self-care and finding happiness in every day we wake up that we’ll be naturally more motivated to take realistic and tangible action towards the things we know need to get done. It’s kind of like how sometimes I feel like I wasted 20 minutes makes a to do list when I could have done a task that would have only taken 20 minutes or less. Yes, it’s important to be organized, but maybe we can get organized in a minute, hour, or week from now and we should use this organic energy to grow, develop, and adventure right fucking now. Who’s to say…

PS – If you’re in the Baltimore area, come by the second Tag Making Event for the Scarf Abandonment Project on Friday night!

Here’s what I’ve been into lately…

Weekly Happiness | Uncustomary

Pictures from last week…

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[Extra Sparkle] * How thoughtful my Dad’s presents to me always are * Napping in Joe’s lap * Emergen-C packets * Spinach dip * Gala Darling’s Unicorn Cleanse class * “The Secret”, “Minimalism”, “John Waters” Filthy World” & “Masterminds” on Netflix * Eating a veggie tray for dinner * Getting all green lights in a row * Picking my song anthem for 2017 (watch the compilation video) * The difference of my mood when I make my bed * Getting my glasses adjusted so they don’t hurt my face all day * A new sparkly geode * Finding money in my pocket * Putting the shower head on the rain shower setting *Skyping with Shannon * Finishing season 12 of It’s Always Sunny (even if I wasn’t happy with the ending) * Cold water * Bug meowing into scarves * Cooking cauliflower wings all by myself * Finishing up the Baltimore Sun interviews (check your Sunday paper!) * Jokes about the “Jaws”‘s soundtrack and pretend fan message boards * Keeping it together during fits of anxiety * Meatball soup * Listening to “Konstantine” on the way home on New Year’s Eve * How cool Emily and Andy’s house is * Sparkly teal eyeshadow * Going to bed with empty trash cans and clean sheets * A tiny dog cuddled all up on me * Jim and Pam on the last season of “The Office” * The way I reset after I sleep * Reconciliation through perspective and love * Getting things fixed with my landlord * Not blowing myself up when I accidentally left my gas stove lit * Ke$ha’s most recent album * Saying no to super unhealthy foods with more ease * Connecting with people just as easily as it was a decade ago




Things to check out online:

What’s on your happiness list this week?
Sending you lots of love and glitter!